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Building Begins On Jail Addition

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By JULIA FERRANTE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 2, 2008

LAND O' LAKES - Work has begun on a $20.5 million jail addition in Land O' Lakes.

County commissioners will decide in coming weeks whether to proceed with a three-story structure or to scale down the project to save money in the short term.

The cost includes design, permitting and furniture for the facility, which will alleviate crowding at the two county jails.

Without the addition, county officials would have to continue to send inmates out of the county at a cost of about $57 a day, said Dan Johnson, the assistant county administrator for public services.

County officials may decide to construct just two stories - at a cost of about $12 million - or two stories and the shell of a third for about $14 million, Johnson said. Building the shell without putting on the finishing touches would, however, cost more in the long-term.

"We've talked about both of those concepts," Commissioner Ann Hildebrand said. "We more or less said we were going to build all three floors. We're getting a pretty good price on construction now because people are looking for work."

A bigger issue - the "10,000-pound gorilla in the room" will be staffing the jail. County commissioners trimmed their proposed budget by about $22 million to comply with statewide tax reform and offer residents a steady tax rate in the upcoming fiscal year.

About $1.8 million in reserves has been set aside for staffing in the proposed fiscal 2008-09 budget, but there is no long-term funding source, Director of Management and Budget Michael Nurrenbrock has said.

"Obviously, salaries are going to be the biggest nut to crack," Hildebrand said. "We were presented with a balanced budget and a steady tax rate, but we are going to have to make some cuts to fund that for the coming year."

Housing inmates is the county's responsibility, sheriff's office spokesman Kevin Doll noted.

"They need to make sure the funding is there for the space and the personnel," Doll said. "I don't think citizens want inmates who should be in jail in an overcrowded situation released out on the street."

The sheriff's office, in an effort to relieve crowding, has released some inmates accused of misdemeanors and nonviolent crimes on their own recognizance. A temporary jail also was constructed to house inmates. The jail in Land O' Lakes as of Tuesday was holding 1,326 inmates, about 319 inmates over capacity.

Reporter Julia Ferrante can be reached at (813) 948-4220 or jferrante@tampatrib.com.

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